Video | Knee Arthroscopy

Audio Transcript:​​Hello, I’m Norman Swan. A torn knee cartilage is extremely common as we age. In fact some people believe it’s so common it’s almost a normal part of ageing. Therefore people question the value of treating it actively, particularly with surgery through arthroscopy.

An interesting study has compared exercise, that’s 12 weeks of exercise strengthening the muscles around the knee and also giving more balance and functional movement to the knee, compared to arthroscopy, has found no difference between the two treatments. And in fact the people undergoing exercise had stronger muscles.

The interesting thing about this study is that they gave the option to the people who were in the exercise group to go on and have surgery if they weren’t happy. And about one in five did so, and the results of that were in fact there was no improvement at all.

So if you’ve got a torn knee cartilage and you’re over 50 it’s worth trying exercise or indeed perhaps nothing at all before you jump to knee arthroscopy.